


Choosing Grace

by samflower (orphan_account)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Dean Winchester Proposes Marriage to Castiel, Destiel through Sam's eyes, Emotionally Hurt Dean Winchester, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Fireworks, Human Castiel, Hunter Dean Winchester, Hunter Sam Winchester, Hurt Dean Winchester, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, Sad Dean Winchester, Sam's Birthday, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-14 18:33:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16918128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/samflower
Summary: Dean spends all day getting ready for Castiel and his three year anniversary.





	Choosing Grace

It was early July when the first loud bangs entered the bunker halls. Gunpowder and smoke raged through the old halls of the once clean foyer, overpowering the typically strong scent of coffee. Sam heard his brother cough from the next room and grunted as he pushed himself out of bed and stumbled out of his room. Dean Winchester was covered head to toe in--what Sam had guessed was--three-hundred big ones in fireworks. Roman candles strapped to his thighs, sparkles, skyrockets, and snakes in bags on his wrists, party poppers, bang snaps, and bottle rockets tucked under his arms and chin--completely unsafe, but to Sam and Dean, nothing was unsafe unless it had to do with the Supernatural. Sam wobbled sleepily down the halls towards the sound. As soon as he rounded the corner and his tired eyes landed on Dean, he sighed.

“Isn’t it a little early in the morning for you to be so obnoxious?” Sam asked as he grumpily rubbed his tired eyes. Pre-coffee Sam was such a buzzkill for an already amped up Dean.

“No.” Dean responded and flashed his younger brother a wickedly brilliant grin. Sam shook his head and poured himself a cup of coffee. He was still in his sleepwear, all cozy in his dark red fleece pajamas, his long hair tucked out of his face with headband--of which, he hated admitting to.

“Dean,” Sam said exasperatedly. Then, he decided not to continue. He poured himself a cup of coffee before turning to face his brother. Sam propped himself up against the counter, kicking one leg over the other, both hands warming up on his mug. He sighed to himself. He never knew what his older brother was up to, and sometimes, he was thankful for that. Had he known, he would have probably disproved. 

“Imagine this, Sammy--” Dean began. Sam took one hand off of his mug and held it up for his brother to see.

“Y’know what, Dean? I don’t even want to know what you’ve got planned.” Sam stated and Dean shrugged before turning around. Dean shuffled awkwardly towards the door before turning to his brother once more.

“It’s gonna be big,” Dean winked before he trotted up the bunker stairs steathfully.

“I’ll bet it is…” Sam returned to his coffee, taking long sips of it.

It was a few hours and many loud bangs later when Dean trotted back down the bunker stairs. He was covered in soot and smelled like a roman candle went off directly in his laundry basket. Sam sat, skimming through possible new leads on his laptop, almost completely ignoring his brother as he entered.

“I think I’m ready to go. Jus’ a few final touches and we’ll be golden.” 

Sam sighed, removing and setting his reading glasses aside. “Dean, I know I shouldn’t ask--for my own sanity--but what are you doing?” 

“Sam,” Dean began once again. “You know I’m not into chick flick moments. Just… don’t tell Cas.” And with that, Dean turned and walked away. Sam could only begin to speculate what his older brother was up to and was coming up with dead ends the entire time. 

An hour later, Sam was lounged on one of the bunker’s many couches. “Don’t tell Cas… fireworks… and Dean being all secretive.” Sam kept reciting to himself. Ever since his brother wouldn’t tell him what he was up to, Sam had been wracking his brain for a possible answer. He kept repeating the mantra to himself. It was driving him wild not knowing.

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed with his lack of progress. “Fireworks, Cas, and secrets.” Sam huffed. He heard footsteps behind him as he rubbed his temples.

“Sam? What about fireworks and me?” He heard from behind him and Sam turned around. He knew he wasn’t supposed to say anything, but his curiosity won out. Sam turned around to face Castiel. Castiel, who wore a long trench coat that was covered in mud til about halfway up and a pair of dark wash slacks with a dress shirt and tie, took off the long coat he wore and sat next to him. He looked odd without the jacket and Sam sighed in agitation.

“I’m not supposed to say anything.” Sam began, knowing full well he was going to say something anyway. “Dean has been working on something outside all day. He told me, ‘It’s gonna be big’. He tried to tell me this morning but I didn’t let ‘im and now I’m curious.”

Sam took a long pause, waiting for Castiel to interject with his own theory. “Where were you anyway?” He asked after the long bout of silence between the two.

Castiel stared at Sam for a long while, silent. “We’ve been together three years today… I was picking something up for him.” Castiel stated as if it should have been obvious to Sam from the start what Dean was planning. Sam nearly smacked the sense out of himself when Castiel’s eyes twinkled a bit. Now, he was regretting opening his big mouth to Castiel to begin with.

Sam would never imagined Dean as the hopeless romantic type--with his whole ‘no chick flick moments’ mantra that he repeated to Sam everytime he mentioned Castiel in the past year. No, this had to be something special that Dean was planning, something new. This wasn’t just another anniversary for the pair. It was their first anniversary where Castiel was human, not immortal. Not someone who was going to outlive Dean. And then it hit Sam. Something big at a time where they could feasibly spend the rest of their human lives together. Dean was going to propose. Sam’s throat tightened and he felt his cheeks heat up at the mere thought. 

This was definitely out of character for Dean.

 

***

Finally nightfall, Dean decided it was the perfect time to stumble back out of his room and into the living room. “Meet me in the ‘yard’.” Dean stated. He looked out of place in the old halls of the bunker. He was wearing his famed leather jacket and had on a nice--presumably new--white crewneck t-shirt which hung perfectly over his dark wash jeans. Sam was impressed. His brother did clean up nice, even if the same outfit he wore any other day of the week. Any other, not special day of the week, to be exact.

Dean turned and Sam and Castiel shared confused glances at each other. Sam’s confused glance, however, was a show. Whereas Castiel’s confused glance was genuine and that made Sam’s heart do a little dance inside of his chest. He was proud. Not only of his brother, but of their relationship. Castiel and Dean had grown so much since Castiel became human and Sam thought it was a beautiful thing.

Sam stood up with a soft groan, his body tired from the years of hunting. Castiel followed him and they both trotted up the stairs after Dean. As soon as they made it into the year just outside of the bunker, Dean called. “It’s about to start, get over here.” And Sam and Castiel followed the sound of his voice into the night.

It was just bright enough out to see Dean in the distance and as they made their way to Dean, the first of the fireworks started. Dean was laying in the tall grass on a blanket, staring up at the sky and Sam decided to sit a few meters away from the pair as Castiel joined him. They laid, holding hands for a long time as the fireworks went off overhead. 

Sam watched impatiently for Dean to make his move and as the fireworks got faster and faster, he saw Dean shift slightly, reaching stealthily into his pocket and Sam watched Dean through the light of the fireworks. As the last firework went off, so did the Castiel’s gasp as he glanced back at Dean, who was kneeling next to him, holding the box open. “Castiel James Novak,” Dean began, using the name that Castiel had appointed to himself that night he became human. “Will you do the honors of marrying me?”

Castiel stared, shocked. Dean knelt there, unwavering as he awaited his answer. 

“No.” Castiel stated as he pulled himself into a seated position. “No, Dean.” 

“What?” Dean questioned, shocked by his partner’s answer. 

“I said no.” Castiel stared at him quizzically for a long moment, “I’ve been meaning to tell you, Dean… Metatron called me earlier. I met with him. He promised to restore my grace… on two conditions. I return to heaven and help him rule… and I give up you.” With that, Castiel stood from the hard ground and turned, walking back to the bunker. “I chose my grace, Dean. I thought you’d be happy for me.” He called over his shoulder. “I choose my grace.”

**Author's Note:**

> This one was definitely rushed, but the prompt was "something unexpected" (didn't give me much to go off of). I'm also a day late in posting this but oh well. I had it written yesterday, I just didn't feel like tagging it and putting it in the archive. Something unexpected not being the proposal, but being the denying of the proposal. Anyway, I don't like this one but maybe that's just me. Hopefully you do. Feel free to leave your thoughts below and remember to leave a kudos. This is also part of my 31 Day prompt challenge, so feel free to check out the work before this one.


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